Identification of a sex attractant pheromone for male winterform pear psylla, Cacopsylla pyricola

J Chem Ecol. 2009 Dec;35(12):1437-47. doi: 10.1007/s10886-009-9725-2.

Abstract

Pear psylla, Cacopsylla pyricola (Förster) (Hemiptera: Psyllidae), a major economic pest of pears, uses a female-produced sex attractant pheromone. We compared the chemical profiles obtained from cuticular extracts of diapausing and post-diapause winterform males and females to isolate and identify the pheromone. Post-diapause females produced significantly more of the cuticular hydrocarbon, 13-methylheptacosane, than post-diapause males and diapausing females. In olfactometer assays, conspecific males were attracted to synthetic racemic 13-methylheptacosane, whereas females were not, indicating that the behavioral response to this chemical is sex-specific. Furthermore, 13-methylheptacosane was as attractive to males as a cuticular extract of females, suggesting that this chemical was largely responsible for the female attractiveness. A field study showed that males but not females were attracted to 13-methylheptacosane, confirming the olfactometer results. This study provides evidence that 13-methylheptacosane is a sex attractant pheromone for C. pyricola winterform males. This is the first identification of a sex pheromone in the Psylloidea. Our results open the path to developing monitoring tools and possibly new strategies for integrated pest management of this insect.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Female
  • Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry
  • Hemiptera / chemistry*
  • Hemiptera / metabolism
  • Male
  • Pyrus / parasitology*
  • Sex Attractants / chemistry*
  • Sex Attractants / isolation & purification
  • Sex Attractants / metabolism

Substances

  • Sex Attractants